Elevator



(No Model.) 2 Shetsf-Sheet l. L. M. HOSBA.

BLEVATOR.

Patented Aug. 2, 1892.

No. 479,943.v

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVIS M. HOSEA, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

ELEVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,943, dated August2, 1892.

Application filed August 21, 1891.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS M. HOsEA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Elevators, of which the following is a specification. My inventionrelates to elevators or lifts, its object being to produce a simple,effective, and safe apparatus adapted especially for the application ofelectricity as a driving force. y

To this end it consists principally in an elevator platform or cabsuspended upon one or more Xed ropes by means of interconnected sheavesengaging and traveling upon said ropes and driven by a motor upon theplatform-cab.

It also consists in the combination, with said carrying and propellingsheaves, of worm- Wheels carried rigidly and concentrically with saidsheaves, and a screw-shaft interconnecting the same, whereby they arecompelled to rotate relatively in opposite directions, and the screwforms a friction-lock to prevent their rotation exceptby means of or aspermitted by the rotation of the screw.

It consists, further, in the combination, with said suspen ding-ropes,carrying-sheaves, worm-wheels, and screw-shaft, of an electric motorhaving its rotating armature concentric with said worm-shaft as adriving-motor for the same.

These being some of the principal features of my invention, the sameconsists, further, in respect to the preferred constructive features, incertain details of construction and arrangements hereinafter more fullyset forth.

Mechanism embodying my invention in a preferred form of construction isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is ageneral side elevation of my improved elevator complete, showing itssalient constructive features; Fig. 2, an elevation of the screw-shaftand gears, showing its constructive features and connections; Fig. 3, anend view of one of the oil-box bearings of the screw-shaft; Fig. 1.1., atop plan view of the elevator-cab, showin" the relative arrangement ofparts; Fig. o, a plan view of a pair of the carrying-sheaves, showingthe manner of engaging the suspending-ropes; Fig. 6, a detail view ofthe brake device for Serial No. 403,271. (No model.)

controlling the momentum of the armature; Fig. 7, a diagram elevationshowing a mode of application for a single rope or group of ropes usedas one.v

Referring now to the drawings, A designates the cabpor platform of anelevator or lift; B, ropes upon which it is suspended; C,guide-stanchions, and D d a counterbalauce- Weight and rope. All partswill be differentiated by numerals in connection with thedesignating-letter where necessary to distinguish between several partsof the same kind.

In the present illustration of my invention the cab is carried upon fourropes and the mechanism constructed accordingly, as follows: Two shaftsE Ela are journaled across the cab-frame at the top or bottom inparallel relations at opposite sides, provided with terminal sheaves FF2 F3 Fl of 'equal size, each with three peripheral grooves. Thesuspension-ropes B are hung from supportingbeams a across the runway atvertical parallel tangents with the outer arcs of the carrying-sheaves Fand pass over and engage corresponding sheaves on opposite shafts ateach side of the cab in pairs, as more fully shown in Fig. 5, andindicated by the numerals 1 2 3 et and 10 20 30 40, traced in each caseconsecutively, passing in appropriate grooves of the sheaves. The ropesmay be provided with suitable take-up devices at top and likewise at thebottom, where they are correspondingly secured in order to interadj ustthe ropes and equalize the distribution of the load. Thus 1nounted,thecab is moved up or down by the rotation of the sheaves, which thusengaging upon and being interconnected in pairs by the ropes B canrotate only in relatively-opposite directions. One of each pair ofsheaves, as F or F3, is connected by a cross-shaft E', and thecorresponding pair, as F2 F", by the shaft E2, and the rotation of thefour sheaves is thus exactly equalized.

The rotating power is applied to both sheaves of a pair equally throughthe medium of a screw-shaft in the following manner: Midway between itsterminal sheaves each shaft E E is provided with a worm-wheel G, andlying across and operating both wormwheels simultaneously in yopposite'dire'ctions is a rightand-left screw-shaft' II, suitablyjournaled. At its central portion the shaft IOO II is connected with thearmature-shaft of an electric motor I or other driving engine or dcvicesecured to the cab-frame. It will be seen that the worm-shaft H, whileit serves as a means of rotating the carrying wheels or sheaves, alsoserves by means of its oppositely-engaging screw with the wornrwheels Gas a lock to prevent their rotation when the shaft is at rest. rlhus theload upon the cab,which would otherwise tend to rotate the carryingsheaves and cause them to travel down the ropes, may be neutralized bythe worm-shaft. The pitch of the threads may be made too small to beeffected by the back-pressure of the woringear teeth, so that power isrequired to depress as well as to elevate the cab. Further, as thescrew-shaft engages by right-andleft connection with its worm-gears allendthrust upon the screw-shaft is neutralized, an d much of the frictionusually an incident of worm-drivers is avoided. The connectingbearings gfor the screw-shaft I'I and the pulley-shafts E E2 are formed, as shownin Figs. 2 and 3, to embrace the screw-shaft at opposite sides of theworm-wheel and to carry the worm-wheel in a trough to partially submergethe worm-wheel in oil for constant and free lubrication.

The electric motor I may be of any common type of reversiblerevolving-arxnature motors and requires no description. The currentmaybe delivered by iiexible conductors or by the ordinary trolley. Ihave shown herein a metallic strip 0c, carried at the inner sides of theguide-stanchions, having connections z with the generator, (or Withgenerator and ground, respectively,) and flexible brushconductors y,attached to the sides of the elcvator and moving in electrical contactwith i the strips I have also shown a reverse lever Z, which may beprovided with the usual resistance devices and proper conductsing-wires. These, however, being common devices for the purpose, need nofurther description.

The screw-shaft II is provided with a brakewheel ZJ, upon which iscarried a frictionbrake (shown as a lever c) having a toggle connectionwith the ends of a divided strap c. I have shown an operating-cordf,attached to the lever c, to operate the brake by hand; but any suitabledevice may be used.

The operation of the device is as follows: The motorIbeing setin motionand the Wormshaft II rotated, the worm-wheels G transmit their rotationthrough the shafts E E2 to 'the respective carrying-sheaves F F2 F3 F4,which being set in motion in relatively-opposite directions, asexplained, travel up or down the ropes B (as the case may be) until themotorcurrent is shut olf and the momentum of the armature is checked bythe brake.

lVhile I have shown four suspended ropes herein upon which the cab issuspended and by means of which it is operated, it will be obvious thattwo only may be employed, the

carrying-pulleys being in such case arranged upon a central line of thecab. It will also be obvious that more than four may be employed byincreasing the number of carryingpulleys or grooves in thecarrying-pulleys upon the shafts accordingly. The suspension andoperation may also be by one rope only or by two or more ropes employedas one passing,r side by side over two pulleys interconnected in themanner herein before described, asindicated in Fig. 7. Theseapplications of the principle being obvious, I have not thought itnecessary to illustrate or describe the same further.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited Statesl. In an elevator, the combination of the cab, twointerconnected carrying-sheaves of equal diameter journaled thereon, oneor more fixed suspension ropes 4secured at the top of the runway andwound in reverse over the sheaves, thereby suspending the cab, and meansfor rotating said sheaves simultaneously in relatively-oppositedirections, substantially as set forth.

2. In an elevator, the combination of suspensioirropes secured atopposite ends to the top and bottom of the runway, a cab provided withtwo equal sheaves jonrnaled thereon to rotate in a common plane andengaging the suspension-ropes in opposite bights formed by reversedwindin g over the sheaves as a pair, right-and-left worin-gears, and aright-and- `left Worm-shaft connecting and driving said sheaves inrelatively-opposi te directions, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in an elevator, of one or more fixedsuspension-ropes, a cab provided with carryingsheaves suspending the cabin bights of the suspension-ropes, Worm-wheels to operate thecarrying-sheaves, worms engagin g the worm-wheels, an electric motorupon the cab engaging and driving said worms, a moving connection fordelivering the elec tric current to said motor, and controlling devicesupon the cab for regulating the delivery and action of the current,substantially as set forth. t

4. rlhe combination, in an elevator or lift, of the cab or platform, thesuspensionropes, the carryingsheaves, the right-and-leftwormwheels, theright-and-left worm-shaft, and the electric motor, substantially as setforth.

5. The combination, in an elevator, of the cab, the suspension ropes,the carryingsheaves, the worm-wheels, the electric motor, themotor-shaft having screws engaging the worm-wheels, and the brake uponthe motorshaft, substantially as set forth.

0. In an elevator of the character described, the combination of thecab, two equal interconnected sheaves arranged to rotate in a commonplane at opposite sides upon the cab, each sheave having peripheralgrooves, and two or more fixed suspension-ropes formingsuspending-bights by winding each from IOO IIO

above under its primary sheave, and thence overand around under theopposite sheavc, and thence back over its primary sheave and downward,substantially as set forth.

7. In an elevator of the character indicated, the combination of twoopposite parallel shafts journaled upon the cab, two sheaves upon eachshaft of equal diameter each with each throughout and arranged inparallel planes in pairs of opposites, a worm-wheel upon each shaftbetween its sheaves, a crossshaft having right-and-left worms,respectively, engaging the worm-gears, four suspending-ropes fixed inthe elevator-runway in outer tangential relations with the sheaves,respectively, and engaging the same by reversed winding-bights, asshown, a rotating armature carried by said cross-shaft, field-magnetscarried upon the cab-frame surrounding said armature and constitutingwith it an electric motor, and electrical connections with said motorfor driving the same, substantially as set forth.

8. In an elevator of the character indicated, the combination of acabprovided with interconnected propellingsheaves, two or more ropessecured at the top of the runway and winding over said sheaves, formingblghts 1n which the cab is suspended and extended thence to the bottomof said runway, and take-up devices for said ropes at their top andbottom holdings for adjusting and maintaining the ropes in properrelation and taking up the slack, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

LEWIS M. HOSEA.

Witnesses:

E. R. DoNoHUE, WM. G. HosEA.

